Pro shops in the midwest?

[KillianL]

Hi folks,

I'm in the St. Louis area, and the only pro shop around has fallen out of favor with me (and like a dozen other skaters at my rink).  Rather than catalog the reasons why, I'll jump straight to my question...

Can anyone recommend a good pro shop within 3 hours drive of St. Louis?  I found a pair of new Riedell Gold Star 375 boots on eBay to replace my broken down Elite Royals for an irresistible price, but I need blades and blade upgrade advice, and don't want to do the mounting myself this time.  I did a decent job before based off some very good instructions I found online (http://www.afterness.com/skating/mounting_blades.html) but I have flat feet, pronate severely, will need punch outs for sure (guy who did them for me before has retired), and probably shims (rather than just mounting my blades really, really far to the inside like I did last time).  I'd prefer a shop near ice so I could test the tech's work before I high tail it out of town. 

Thanks for any recommendations!

[mamabear]

Mmm..I don't know if there is a way to message someone on here but I'm curious about which shop it is-one of our coaches had just mentioned a figure skating shop in St. Louis as a possibility for my daughter having boots custom made.  I don't want to use it if they are likely to do bad work.   I asked another coach today about custom skates (the first one had not used the store had just heard good things about it) and she hadn't been to it either.

[aussieskater]

Mmm..I don't know if there is a way to message someone on here

Click on their user name, and their profile will appear.  On the left hand side is a link "send PM".  That will allow you to send a private message to that person.

[nicklaszlo]

Rainbow sports.  Not close, but excellent reputation.